Report: Stefon Diggs' Frustration with Josh Allen Stems from Bills' Loss to Bengals

There has been a significant amount of speculation about a fracture in the relationship between Buffalo Bills receiver Stefon Diggs and quarterback Josh Allen.

During an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show earlier this week, ESPN's Robert Griffin III offered his take on the situation, saying he believes the root of the issue is based on Buffalo's lackluster showing in its 27-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs.

Despite leading the Bills with 10 targets that game, Diggs finished with only four catches for 35 yards. Late in the contest, he was seen on the sidelines yelling at Allen, and he left the locker room without speaking to reporters after the game.

When asked what he thinks went down between Diggs and Allen, Griffin responded (h/t Cincy Jungle's Dadio Makdook):

"So I've talked with people close to the situation, and really what it boils down to is in that last game against the Bengals, Diggs was the most targeted receiver in that game. ... But when they were down 17, they had a 10-play drive that ended in a turnover on downs, and Diggs only got one ball thrown his way. So you would think that a player of Diggs' caliber, with the relationship that he has with Josh Allen, in those moments, he would look to him more often, more often. And that didn't happen. I think that was something that why we saw Diggs hold his hands up looking at Josh on the sideline when they had the little tiff that was shown on TV."

The simmering tension between Allen and Diggs appeared to boil over when the star receiver missed the first day of mandatory minicamp earlier this month.

When asked about Diggs' absence that day, Allen said they were "working on some things non-football related." He also was asked whether he thought there was a personal conflict between him and Diggs and he responded, "No. I don't think so. There are some things that could have gone better last year and they didn't." Diggs returned to minicamp the next day, and there's an expectation that he'll be present for training camp later this summer.

Griffin reiterated that he believes there wouldn't be an issue if they didn't suffer such an embarrassing playoff defeat last season.

"I think this really just came to a head in that playoff game, because in that moment, if it was handled differently, when Diggs had his emotional outburst on the sidelines, if that was handled differently by Josh Allen and the team, I think we wouldn't be talking about this today," Griffin said. "But it wasn't, you know, they kind of ignored him. And there was a whole scene after that game. I think that has led to some of these rumblings throughout the offseason."